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100% approval with BFCA not enough for 'Me and Orson Welles'

December 14, 2009 | 10:04
am

With just a single nod today for supporting-actor Christian McKay, you wouldn't know "Me & Orson Welles" was one of only two mainstream films to rate 100% approval from the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. this year. The other movie with a perfect score -- "Up" -- is among the 10 films in the best-picture race and also is contending for screenplay, score and animated feature at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards.

As noted Oscarologist Wayman Wong writes, "Did 'Orson' lose out because it's a
small independent movie, and not as flashy and doesn't have the big
names? Shouldn't a movie that scores 100%
approval from its members at least be in the top 10?"

Besides "Up," only the nominated "Up in the Air" (97) and "An Education" (95) scored higher than the snubbed "Star Trek," which was tied with the contending "The Hurt Locker" at 93. "(500) Days of Summer" scored 92 but didn't land on the list, neither did "Fantastic Mr. Fox," at 91, which is the same rating as the nominated "Inglourious Basterds."

Also in the running are "Avatar" and "Precious," at 89 each. "Julie & Julia" (88) and "District 9" (87) didn't make the cut, though "A Serious Man" (86) did. Five snubbed films -- "The Blind Side," "Crazy Heart" "The Messenger," "The Princess and the Frog" and "Sherlock Holmes" -- all rated 85, two points ahead of the nominated "Invictus." Also missing from the list of contenders is "The Informant!" which merited a score of 83, three points ahead of "Nine," which earned 10 nominations in total.

Back in 1941, Orson Welles had to settle for just one Oscar win for his 1941 masterpiece, "Citizen Kane." He shared the original-screenplay award with co-writer Herman Mankiewicz but lost the lead-actor Oscar to Gary Cooper ("Sergeant York") and the directing award to John Ford, who helmed best-picture winner "How Green Was My Valley."